Antonio Farao

Born in Rome in 1965, he attends classic music courses in 1980 with Adriano Della Giustina, and earns his intermediate degree (5th year) in 1983 at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan. Antonio Fara? has been considered an extraordinary talent since his early teens when he used to sit in at jazz clubs during intermission. He soon took part in festivals such as CIAK, Umbria Jazz, Lugano, La Spezia, Merano, Maastricht, Palermo, Lucerne, Athens, Lyon and others. He is invited to numerous radio and TV shows (D.O.C./RAI, Jazz Club, Video Music, Porto Matto, Pronto chi Gioca, Doppia Coppia, Incontri, Jazz Inn.) A multi-award winner in Italy (New Talent Prize at XI Musical Review in 1987, Four Roses prize as Pianist-Of-The-Year in 1991), he has internationally collaborated with the likes of John Abercrombie, Gary Bartz, Billy Cobham, Ronnie Cuber, Chico Freeman, Richard Galliano, Antonio Hart, Lee Konitz, Bireli Lagrene, Didier Lockwood, Branford Marsalis (Kenny Kirkland often calls for Antonio as his substitute), Tony Scott, Buster Williams and many more.

Influenced by the early John Williams (a pianist best known for his recordings with Stan Getz and Phil Woods), Antonio developed his own virtuosic, yet soulful style that is hailed among insiders as one of the finest voices on jazz piano today. Trumpet player Franco Ambrosetti who often works with Antonio explains: "For a young musician, the challenge nowadays is: not to sound like someone else. And it seems to me that Antonio is on his way to develop his very own language and his own conception of trio playing: He is looking ahead and not too much into the past. He puts his creative energy into innovation - although with deep respect for the great masters." In May 2000, American magazine Cadence commented Fara?'s ENJA debut, "Black Inside": "Fara? at times recalls McCoy Tyner and Herbie Hancock but basically has his own advanced style. The pianist is particularly adept at building up his solos, his technique is quite impressive and his originals contain enough quality to hold one's interest throughout."

Combining a mediterranean sound sensibility with a deep understanding of the black piano tradition, Antonio Fara? has successfully overcome his image as an enfant prodige. Assisted by a world-class rhythm duo, he steps to the top of the international piano scene on his ENJA debut, "Black Inside" with bass player Ira Coleman is among the most respected accompanists and drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts, best known for his work with Wynton and Branford Marsalis. The three of them make up for a trio album of the highest order. On his second album, "Thorn" (recorded in April 2000), Fara? goes one step further presenting a ripened amalgam of deep-felt ballad moods, rhythmic complexities, fiery uptempo improvisation and ethnic and classical elements. His playing is inspired by the help of a hand-picked band including master drummer Jack DeJohnette, young sax wizard Chris Potter and bass expert Drew Gress. A band fit to raise a thunderstorm.
For his third album on ENJA, "Next Stories" (recorded in October 2001), two days had been set aside for taping and a third for mixing but Fara? and his cohorts had quickly become a tightly knit unit that effortlessly put down ten tracks in seven hours including a break for lunch. There were a few false starts but otherwise the quartet nailed each tune the first time around and did so with authority. Except for the Cole Porter song and the pianist's tender rendition of John Williams's moving ballad "I Could Have Done More" from his soundtrack for "Schindler's List," all the songs were written by Fara? during the year leading up to the session. In October 2002, Antonio recorded in Germany an album with Miles Davis' former saxophone player, Bob Berg. This CD, entitled "Far out", was released in January 2003 (All songs are composed and arranged by Antonio except his new Arrangements of the classics "Seven steps to heaven" and "More". The liner notes are written by Herbie Hancock.